History of North America

The general part of the program addresses issues that aimed to give the students basic knowledge of the history of the United States, including the creation, the institutionalization, and the political, social and cultural expansion of the Republic. The course tries to understand from one side the rhetoric that justify the imperial path of a Nation in the name of internal security, and terrorist struggle. On the other side, the course will consider the plurality of ideas expressed by the American society in the course of its history.
The monographic part of the course change every year and touches particular arguments in the history of North America emerged as strong issues in the historical debate on the other side of Atlantic ocean. Some of these arguments of the past year are: urban development and the rise of industry, environmentalism and the protection of nature, expansionism and manifest destiny in the age of Thomas Jefferson, slavery and abolitionism, the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the neocon, muckraking and new medias.

The course aims to give the ability to read advanced textbooks, and to apply these reading to professional works in a way to argue in a discussion with colleagues and to solve problems in the field, writing report and useful judgments, as well as the ability to communicate these skills to a broad public. Finally, we will try to obtain learning skills to continue the studies toward future steps.